


You Can't Outrun Destiny

by maddymayscrawls



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, I do use female pronouns for her, Keitor Exchange 2018, M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), Sort Of, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, pidge is not very prominent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-30 22:55:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14507289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddymayscrawls/pseuds/maddymayscrawls
Summary: Keith was never the type of person who went chasing destiny. In fact, he would rather not touch it with a 100 foot pole. But he can't hide forever, especially not with his pesky roommate shoving him toward the man of his dreams who is (apparently) his universe-chosen one true love.





	You Can't Outrun Destiny

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AliceAuthurKun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceAuthurKun/gifts).



> A gift for aliceauthur-kun on tumblr for the Keitor Exchange!
> 
> I hope it's ok that I put some Plance in. It wasn't really planned; it just kinda...happened. Anyway, please enjoy!

To most people, the long stripe on their forearm was something to celebrate. It was a reminder that they were destined to be loved. A connection to their other half, even if they hadn’t met yet. For high schoolers who had just received the mark, it was something to show off. Short sleeves were a common fashion trend, along with one rolled sleeve during the cold winter months. Competitions would be held at lunch to see who had the shortest line, who was closest to meeting their soulmate. Of course, it rarely happened in high school. Those who were born in the same town as their soulmate were few and far between, leading newly graduated seniors to declare summer road trips, using their arm as a built in compass to find the person they would spend the rest of their lives with.

 

College was a time of hope for many. A new town away from home, in the “best years of their lives” meant a perfect time to search and meet new people. It wasn’t as hectic as high school, though. Nobody wanted to seem immature like a high schooler frantically checking under their sleeve every day to see if the length of their line had changed. Their efforts were reduced to secret glances while nobody was looking, disguising glances as scratches and stretching. This was also the place where many did find their soulmate, though not always right away, so the little checks for change became that much more important.

 

As college life went on and ended, many adults gave up. They went on with their lives, ignoring the long stripe which now represented lost hopes. There were more important things to focus on, anyway. Starting careers, buying houses, paying off debt. The whirlwind of life usually made the idea of a soulmate seem insignificant, but it also made the moment when they finally found their soulmate that much more significant. It was a bit of a trade off, really. 

 

Keith Kogane was not most people, and he couldn’t care less how most people thought about their soulmates. To him, it really made no difference. So what if he had a dark violet stripe down his forearm? There was so much more to life than who you would fall in love with. He was aware that there was no way of knowing when your soulmate would show up, so he didn’t waste time trying to anticipate it. In fact, he was rather oblivious to the entire thing. It had been Lance who first pointed out his soulmark when they were 14. He had been so excited about it, insisting that Keith  _ needed _ to go on at least a tiny hunt around town. Keith was not convinced.

 

“We’re destined to be together,” he had said, “I shouldn’t have to hunt. It will happen when it happens.”

 

It took quite a while for Lance to get that message, but he finally did leave Keith alone about it, and Keith went on with his life like normal. He made it through high school without incident. His soulmate wasn’t from his home town, nor did they move there later in his life. He didn’t mind, even as he watched Lance find his soulmate, a petit tomboy named Pidge who’s favorite phrase became, “I swear the universe miscalculated.” Lance had treated Keith like fine china once he and Pidge were dating, no matter how much Keith Insisted he really didn’t care. 

 

Keith had expected college to be no different from high school. He would still continue with his life and aspirations, working toward his goals in the distance. He would still pay no mind to the idea of a person who was tied to him by some mysterious power that nobody understood. The only thing that changed was that instead of seeing starry-eyed Lance in class he now had mopey “Why did Pidge have to go to a different college? I’m not complete without her!” Lance as a roommate. It wasn’t his wisest decision. 

 

Leave it to lovestruck Lance, however, to be the one to notice the other minor change in Keith’s life.

 

“Dude!” He shouted suddenly one night as Keith exited the bathroom after a shower, “Your arm!!”

 

Keith glanced down at the limb Lance was referring to. Did he injure it? Was it somehow not washed from his shower? He examined it closely but couldn’t find anything that should make Lance react to seeing it like that. “What about it?”

 

“Your soulmark shrunk! Like,  _ a lot.” _

 

Another look at his forearm revealed that Lance was right. The violet streak that used to spread all the way to his elbow was now just a small rectangle on his wrist. That was...unexpected. It clearly indicated that his soul mate was close by, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for that. He’d spent his entire life up to this point ignoring that this day might come, assuming that it wouldn’t. Despite the general population’s hopes that they would find their soulmate before they started their adult lives most of them  _ didn’t.  _ Keith was being rational by not getting his hopes up. Or so he thought. But now there was this glaring reminder on his wrist. His soulmate lived in this city, probably went to this school. And he was not mentally prepared to meet them.

 

Rather than face the situation, he folded his arm up and hid his forearm from sight, “No it didn’t!”

 

He didn’t expect it to work; he was just panicked. It still irritated him, though, when Lance jumped up from his seat and ran over, trying to pry Keith’s arm back down, “Yes it did! It so did! Dude! Your soulmate is so close! We have to go find them!!”

 

“No way.” Keith insisted, “I told you: I’m. Not. Hunting. It’s childish and insensible. If I’m supposed to meet them it’ll happen on its own.”

 

Lance groaned, “Keeeeeith! Of course you’re supposed to meet them!! That’s why you have a soulmark in the first place!! To help you  _ find  _ each other!!”

 

“I’m not having this conversation,” Keith huffed, “You know how I feel about soulmates. Just because we’re destined to be together doesn’t mean it has to be  _ right now.  _ I mean, look at you and Pidge! You met in high school and now you’re further away from each other than you’ve ever been!”

 

Lance gasped and jutted out his bottom lip in a pout, staring down at his soulmark. It had never been long to begin with, and now it stretched halfway up his forearm with Pidge halfway across the country.

 

“We’re still happy!” He insisted defensively, “We’re just not at the same school. It’ll be...It’ll be fine,” His voice cracked as his eyes started to water. He was obviously  _ not _ fine. Keith would point out that those are exactly the emotions he’s trying to avoid, but even he isn’t that heartless.

 

Keith sighs, “Ok, that was too far, but my point is I’m not...like you. I don’t want to find my soulmate as soon as possible. I’m perfectly fine with waiting. So maybe we can just...agree to disagree.” 

 

Lance didn’t seem happy about it, but he did drop the subject. 

 

\--+--+--+--+--

 

The library was Keith’s safe space. It was full of books, and free of most people. It seemed counterintuitive that people wouldn’t take advantage of the resources and study space, but with ebooks and other, less dusty places around campus the library seemed to be a forgotten treasure spot. Not that Keith was complaining. He loved the quiet. It helped him focus and kept him calm.

 

On this particular day, Keith was in the library gathering books for a research paper. Sure, he could have stayed home and looked up journals in the online database, but that wasn’t how he liked to do his research. Books were much more expansive, and he loved watching the progression of knowledge as he went back in time with his sources. A book from 20 years ago would eventually be proven wrong by a book from 10 years ago which would be expanded on 5 years later. It just felt right to use all of it in his papers.

 

So far, he had found seven books, and he had them stacked precariously in his arms as he continued his search. He might not end up using them all, but it was never a bad idea to have too many sources. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a title that sounded just perfect. With his arms as full as they were, he didn’t think he would be able to stop and review the contents before taking it, so he grabbed it to add to the top of his pile. He could always put it back later. 

 

He turned to head back to his table, ready to start his notes, when his line of sight was blocked by another person, who was coming down the aisle reading a book of his own. Keith tried to backpedal and avoid the collision, but it was really no use. He ran directly into his fellow patron, and his books toppled down off of his unbalanced stack. He was able to stay standing himself, thankfully, but now there was a huge mess to clean up. He huffed in frustration. This was  _ exactly  _ why he didn’t like having people in his space. Too many unexpected things happened when other people were involved, and it almost always inconvenienced him. 

 

He bent down and began angrily gathering his books back up. At least now he could organize them from largest to smallest, but the extra work still wasn’t very appealing to him. 

 

“Oh my, I’m so very sorry. Allow me to help.” a silky voice came from above him, presumably the guy who caused this mess. Keith was about to refuse the help as he reached for another book, but his voice caught as the stranger’s hand landed on his. Apparently he was reaching for the same book. 

 

Keith looked up to give the guy a piece of his mind, but his voice caught as time seemed to stop. The man in front of him was, for utter lack of a better word, gorgeous. Flowing silver hair. Deep blue eyes. A charming smile resting gently on his lips, looking effortless. The crease in his eyebrow showed the concern that Keith now knew was real. Clearly, the man had meant no harm, and genuinely wanted to make up for the mistake.

 

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Keith finally choked out. He tore his gaze away from the stranger and went to lift the book they had both been touching, but he froze again, this time out of an almost unwarranted fear. There, on the wrist holding the book, was only the tiniest sliver of the deep violet that should have been staining his skin. He swallowed hard as he gingerly placed the book on his stack. This wasn’t happening. Not here. Not now. 

 

He had to be sure, though. There was no need to get super worked up. It could be someone completely different, right? Granted, they were probably still in the library, but at least it wouldn’t be this guy...right?

 

When the books were all stacked and they were standing, Keith shifted the stack to one arm and held out his hand, “Thank you for the help. I’m Keith.”

 

“Lotor. It was my pleasure,” Lotor took his hand, and Keith glanced over at his wrist. Sure enough, there was nothing there. Not even a hint of the mark that had been there for the past six years. 

 

“Well, I have a lot of work to do, so I’ll be going now.” Keith responded in a strained voice. Without waiting for a reply, he turned and began walking swiftly in the other direction. He stopped only long enough to drop the books in the returns for books that weren’t checked out, and then he was out the door. He could come back for them later. Right now every inch of his being was screaming at him to get. Out.

 

\--+--+--+--+--

 

Keith was curled in a blanket on the couch staring blankly at the wall when Lance got home. Somewhere in the back of his mind he acknowledged that acting like nothing was wrong would be the best course of action. Lance would just be nosy and obnoxious about the whole thing, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t make himself sit up.

 

“Keith?” Lance called from the entryway, “The door was unlocked, so I assume you’re ho--” He froze when he reached the living room, “Whoa, dude what’s wrong?”

 

Keith looked at him.  _ Lie _ , he told himself, “I met my soulmate today.” he told Lance. 

 

Lance’s face lit up like a little kid on Christmas, “Keith!! That’s great!!” He shouted. Then his face morphed into one of perplexion, “So why do you look so down?”

 

“Because I don’t know what to do! I wasn’t prepared!”

 

“Well, what did they say?”

 

Keith looked away. He knew Lance wasn’t going to like this answer. At all, “He didn’t say anything, because I didn’t tell him.”

 

“You WHAT?!” and there it was. Lance’s inability to face a situation without the highest emotion level, “Keith!! Why wouldn’t you  _ say something?” _

 

“I panicked, ok? I wasn’t ready to meet him, and he was there, and he was so pretty, and my brain just shut down!”

 

Lance clicked his tongue as he came to sit down by Keith’s feet, “Buddy, you really messed up this time. Didn’t you?”

 

“No.” Keith replied instantly, “I just followed my instincts. And they told me to run.”

 

“Haven’t you ever heard that you can’t run from Destiny?” Lance had that sparkle in his eyes now. The soulmate sparkle, Keith likes to call it. He used to get it when he’d stare at his soulmark in high school, then it was turned on Pidge. Now he got that look when he talked about anyone’s soulmate. It really could be anyone, even strangers he saw walking down the street.

 

“Well I just did,” Keith burrowed down further into his blanket cocoon. He just really wasn’t in the mood for this. “And I think I’ll keep doing it for a while.”

 

“Nooooo Keeeiiiith you caaaaan’t,” Keith was not about to look up, but he knew if he did he would see puppy eyes. 

 

“I can and I will.”

 

A huff, “Okay, well at least tell me about him! You said he’s pretty?”

 

Keith sighed, “Gorgeous. Long hair, deep blue eyes, smooth tan skin, and….god, Lance, he has an  _ accent.  _ An accent! How is that even fair?”

 

“Of course it’s fair,” Lance countered, “He’s your soulmate, Keith. His accent is  _ for you.” _

 

_ “ _ You don’t understand.” Keith pulled the blanket closer around himself, “He’s perfect. Gorgeous, tall, a gentleman….I don’t deserve someone like him. It’s not fair to him to be stuck with me.”

 

“Nope. Uh uh. No way. I am NOT going to sit here and listen to you put yourself down.” A weight settled on top of him. Lance had probably laid down, “You sir are amazing and anyone would be lucky to have you as a soulmate.”

 

“You just say that because you’re not stuck with me.”

 

“I say that because I’ve known you for years. Don’t make me get even sappier. Cuz I will.”

 

Keith had absolutely no doubt that he would, “Fine, whatever. Assuming that he would be ok with having someone like me as a soulmate, what am I even supposed to do now? Waltz up and be like ‘Hey, Lotor, sorry I ran away from you. I found out you were my soulmate and I freaked out!’?” I’ll sound like an idiot.

 

Lance was silent for a long time. So long that Keith began to seriously wonder if he was even still there, despite still being able to feel his weight. Maybe he had fallen asleep?

 

“What did you just say his name is?” He finally asked.

 

“Lotor,” Keith repeated. The name felt so right in his mouth. Like he was destined to say it, which, he supposed he was. He didn’t expect something so simple to feel so nice, though. 

 

“I know him!” Lance exclaimed, “He’s in one of my classes!! We were lab partners once!!!”

 

Keith’s eyes widened, and he finally sat up very quickly and very suddenly to turn his terrified gaze on Lance, “No.”

 

Lance batted his eyelashes, a picture of innocence, “What?”

 

“ _ NO,”  _ Keith repeated, “I know what you’re thinking. You are  _ not _ telling him.”

 

“But it’s so perfect! I tell him I know his soul mate, you go on a blind date, you fall madly in love and live happily ever after! C’mon, let me be your best wing man!”

 

“I said no.” Keith crossed his arms, “You know I want things to happen naturally, and you intervening is  _ not  _ things happening naturally.” he put up his hand to stop whatever protest Lance was opening his mouth to say, “Every time we do this it ends the same. So let’s just skip the part where we get angry and jump to the compromise.”

 

Lance narrowed his eyes, “Fine. I won’t tell him anything, but you have to promise to tell him next time you see him.”

 

“But--”

 

“Keith, do you really think you’re the first person to run away when you found your soulmate? I don’t think you’re that special, buddy. He’s going to understand.”

 

Keith huffed, “Fine. But  _ only  _ if I see him again. I’m not going to search.”

 

“Awesome!” Lance hopped up off the couch, “And with that, I’m going to go start dinner.”

 

\--+--+--+--+--

 

Keith did not just not search for Lotor. He avoided him at all costs. It wasn’t like he had  _ planned _ to do that. When he made the deal with Lance he really did intend to tell Lotor the next time he saw him. The problem was that every time he saw Lotor, Lotor didn’t see  _ him.  _ It gave him too much of a chance to chicken out and turn the other way, which is exactly what he did. 

 

In actuality, he hadn’t expected to run into Lotor so soon at all. He had gone over a month without encountering him the first time. It should have taken a while to see him again. The universe clearly had its own plans, though, because once he knew who Lotor was he saw him everywhere. He was in the coffee shop when Keith went in because he had spent the night before slaving over a paper until god awful hours. He was in the burger place Keith had gone to for lunch, walking down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road, sitting in a chair in the student union. Keith simply couldn’t get away from him.

 

In retrospect, returning to the place he first encountered Lotor in may not have been the brightest idea, but Keith had a paper to work on and he wasn’t about to break his work habits over fear for something that may not even happen. 

 

He was a fool not to.

 

He had only been there for a short time, long enough to search the library catalog for the section he would need to search in. Of course, the next step was to make his way to that section. As he did so, he caught a flash of silver out of the corner of his eyes. He turned his head on instinct, and found himself staring straight into a royal blue.

 

“Ah, Keith, we meet in the library once again.”

 

“Looks like it,” Keith responded dumbly. He felt like an animal trapped in headlights. Was he staring? When was the last time he blinked? 

 

“I was actually hoping I’d see you around. You left quite an impression on me.”

 

Keith let out a shaky breath. His heart was going wild in his chest, “I didn’t really do anything, though…”

 

Lotor hummed, “Perhaps it was something about the way you looked at me. The fire in your eyes was...intriguing,” 

 

“The fire in my eyes was because I wanted to tell you to fuck off for not watching where you were going,” Keith looked down, finally tearing his eyes away from Lotor’s face. This really wasn’t good for his health. His mind was racing, forcing him to recall Lance’s words. He knew he needed to tell Lotor, but he really,  _ really  _ didn’t want to.

 

The chuckle surprised him, “I believe your tower of reading material may have had an influence as well. But you are right. I could have been more careful.”

 

_ Tell him. Tell him!!  _ “I...guess that might’ve been part of it. I didn’t care about that then, though. I kinda have some of a...a temper.”  _ If I don’t tell him now I’m going to chicken out,  _ “So, um…”

 

Keith’s eyes squeezed shut. He gripped his hands into fists, “I...have to go.” He turned, intending on heading the other direction as quickly as possible. He would just have to apologize to Lance and try again next time. It wasn’t going to happen now.

 

“Keith! Buddy! What’s up?”

 

Keith’s eyes flew open. No. No way. His luck wasn’t  _ that  _ bad. It couldn’t be. And yet it was. Lance was standing at the end of the aisle, blocking his escape path.

 

“Oh, and Lotor’s here too! So then you must have told him.”

 

“Oh? Told me what?” Keith winced at Lotor’s inquisitive tone. He didn’t know if Lance really thought he’d already said it, or if he was trying to get him to do so, but either way it put entirely too much pressure on the situation. 

 

“You know...That he’s your--” Keith ran forward to throw a hand over Lance’s mouth. This wasn’t happening this way. He wouldn’t let it. He leaned forward and hissed in Lance’s ear.

 

“Get lost! I haven’t told him yet!” The disappointed look in Lance’s eyes struck him, and he sighed, “I’ll do it, ok? But you have to leave. I’m not having an idiot like you be the star of my soulmate story.” 

 

Lance rolled his eyes and took a forceful step back, “Fine, whatever. Sorry, Lotor, I gotta go. See you in class!”

 

“Goodbye, Lance.” Lotor said. He smiled when Keith turned back to look at him, “He’s quite a bothersome person, isn’t he?”

 

“Try living with him,” Keith responded, chuckling a little despite his nerves, “Trust me, he’s like that all the time.”

 

Lotor hummed, “I imagine it gets tiring. He has very high energy levels. I could barely survive our first lab assignment together.”

 

“God, I can’t even imagine trying to do schoolwork with him,” Keith began to slowly make hi way back to where he was when they’d first run into each other. Talking from down the aisle felt extremely awkward, especially considering the important conversation he needed to have, “We’ve luckily never had classes together.”

 

“Trust me, you should consider yourself fortunate. He always has a lot to say with not a lot of point to it.”

 

“Sounds like him. He can’t call his parents to ask a question without being on the phone for four hours. I used to think it was his mom missing him, but then she pulled me aside when we were visiting home one time to ask me to come up with reasons to get him off the phone. Apparently he was cutting into her housework time.”

 

“That seems excessive. Though I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had the closest relationship with my parents.”

 

“Yeah, me neither.” He shrugged, “When I see how much of a mama’s boy he is I wonder if that’s really such a bad thing.”

 

For some reason, Lotor started laughing at that. It wasn’t very long or loud, but it sent chills up Keith’s spine anyway, “I suppose you may have a point. It’s a silver lining to the situation for sure.”

 

Keith smiled, “Yeah, I guess it is…”

 

Something changed in Lotor’s face, though Keith couldn’t tell exactly what, “Well, now that you’re a little more comfortable...you had something to tell me?”

 

Keith tensed slightly. He should have seen this coming. There was nothing he could do, though. It had to happen. He took a deep breath, “I do. It’s just...really hard to say.”

 

Lotor quirked an eyebrow, a smirk growing on his lips, “Oh? It was my impression that people our age were supposed to be overjoyed to find their soulmates.”

 

Keith’s eyes widened, and he felt his throat closing up as his jaw dropped. He hadn’t heard right...had he? Did Lotor know the  _ entire time  _ that they were soul mates? And he just  _ didn’t say anything?! _ What the heck! 

 

“You’re...you  _ knew?” _ He managed to get out after a few more seconds of inner turmoil.

 

Lotor brought his hand up to rest on Keith’s cheek, “I did. And I apologize for not mentioning it sooner. You just ran away so quickly...I assumed something absolutely tu me had scared you off. I wanted to let you come to me in your own time.”

 

“That’s...really nice of you.” Now Keith was sure he was staring, and he wasn’t ashamed of it. He had a gorgeous, polite soulmate. He was starstruck. 

 

“Well, despite what the Universe May have planned for us, I knew that rushing into things could end up messy. I wanted to make absolute certain it was the right time.”

 

The words sounded so familiar. It was exactly what Keith had been saying to Lance for years. He found himself smiling, “I thought the same thing, actually.”

 

“That makes me very happy to hear,” Lotor said. His hand moved down to grasp Keith’s, “In fact, I was thinking we could take everything at a pace that is right for both of us. No need to rush.” 

 

“I’d really like that,” Keith responded. He really would. It was really all he ever wanted out of his soulmate relationship. To take things slow and get to know each other in their own time instead of trying to dive head first into the romance. 

 

“Then would you accompany me for some coffee sometime? I will be free Tuesday afternoon.”

 

“Coffee sounds great. I think I can make Tuesday work,” in truth, he had a class Tuesday, but missing one day for his first date absolutely would not hurt anything.

 

Lotor’s eyes seemed to sparkle with joy, “Tuesday, then. I very much look forward to it.” He lifted Keith’s hand up and pressed a small kiss to his wrist. Then he slowly backed away with a small wave, “I’ll let you get back to your research.”

 

Keith stood and waved after Lotor for a long time before his words really registered.

 

Research. Crap. He quickly scrambled to get back to his search, but he had an enormous grin the whole time.

 

Maybe this soulmate thing wasn’t so bad after all. 

  
  



End file.
